Games

Tomb Raider made a splash recently with rumors that hint at a Next-Gen reveal to be announced at the 2013 Video Game Awards in early December!

An Amazon Italy post suggested that Tomb Raider’s reboot will be ported to the next generation consoles. Some are speculating that it might be a “Game of The Year” edition, others say that a next-gen sequel will be announced as well, or both!

A Square Enix rep told IGN, “It’s so hard to keep a secret these days! We appreciate all of the enthusiasm, however we don’t have any details to share just yet. That said, we highly recommend you keep an eye on any major gaming events happening in early December.”

At last week’s Bradford Animation Festival (BAF), Brian Horton, Senior Art Director at Crystal Dynamics, gave a presentation discussing the history of Lara Croft and the development of this reboot.

Following the talk Horton was open to questions from the floor, and the inevitable suggestion of a sequel didn’t take too long to come around.

“We’ve announced the sequel… I’m glad I can finally talk about!” Stated Horton. “The Tomb Raider sequel is the next chapter of [Lara’s] development… her life is changing. She can’t go back to the way she was.”

Horton stated that the team at Crystal Dynamics had worked hard to create techniques and tools that would exist beyond a single videogame, notably stating the development of TressFX with AMD. Horton keenly stated that TressFX was still being worked on and that it was most certainly a ‘next-gen’ technology.

Junkie Monkeys reports, Square Enix has trademarked a game title — Lara Croft: Reflections in both the United States and Europe. The classification qualifies the trademark as, “Computer game software; computer games, consisting of computer software; video game software; video games, consisting of computer software.”

I guess we’ll have to wait and see!Be sure to vote Tomb Raider as “Game of The Year” & Tune into the VGX award show
Saturday, December 7 at 6 PM ET / 3 PM PT on SPIKE TV!

Back in November of 2012, the Crystal Habit podcast gave us some behind the scenes insight on the making of the Tomb Raider cover.

Mentioned in the podcast by Tomb Raider’s senior art director Brian Horton, the cover is a mockup rendition pieced together by his team at Crystal Dynamics as well as their partners at Ignition & Visual Works.

So who is the the model on Tomb Raider’s cover art? Brian Horton and Ignition chose the lucky & talented model Erin Johnson to represent lady Lara Croft on the cover of Tomb Raider!

It started with an Ignition idea that we modified and did a sketch over. Ignition had done some proof-of-concept kind of stuff. Then we did Bren’s sketch, and then we did the shoot. Once we had the shoot and the pose locked from a photograph, we sent that over to Visual Works. They matched that pose and the lighting. In fact, Ignition sent us detailed lighting information. The temperature and position of all the lights and stuff. So Visual Works could simulate that in their environment. They did an awesome render. Then I worked with Ignition to composite some of that to get the final look that you see on the cover. It was pretty cool.

I’m happy to report is that once we got the Visual Works render back, which was originally only supposed to be the head and the hair, they gave us a full body render. I was able to get some ingredients from the Visual Works model and I’ve got them composited in.

TombRaiding spoke with Erin Johnson about what it was like to shoot with Ignition & Crystal Dynamics, and what it takes to be on the cover of Tomb Raider!

How did you learn about the casting notice that Crystal Dynamics had put out?

In the beginning Crystal Dynamics did not hire me. I was hired by a printing company called Ignition Print in Santa Monica. They are responsible for the cover art of movie posters, video games, etc. I had shot with them before to be a figure model for a different video game and they called me back for Tomb Raider because I resembled the character of Lara. When it first started out, Ignition Print was trying to get hired by Crystal Dynamics to do the cover of Tomb Raider, and they ended up getting the job with the photo that actually turned out to be the shot they used for the cover!

What did the auditioning process look like?

The casting was through Ignition Print and initially it was for “a chick who can look badass holding a gun.” This to me was perfect because I always dreamt of being portrayed somehow as a badass babe!! So I went to the casting in black pants, thigh high boots, a black midriff top and my hair slicked back in kind of a faux hawk. This to me represented a “badass babe,” little did I know that that shot would help me get the quintessential badass babe of all time.

What was it like shooting the cover of Tomb Raider?

Shooting for Tomb Raider was actually a lot of hard work. They didn’t really keep me in the know or let me know exactly what we were shooting since I shot with Ignition Print about 8 times, each session lasting about 8 hours long. The shoots were incredibly endurance driven. I basically had to do yoga poses for hours at a time and the next day I wasn’t surprised if I was unable to walk because I was so sore. On top of holding poses and pulling on a real bow and arrow (which let me tell you is anything but easy), I was also constantly being sprayed with water and having a fan blowing on me full speed so I ended up also getting sick a couple of times.

I was incredibly accustomed to Lara’s outfit, it was like my second skin!! After shooting in it so much and being drenched in all that water and mud all the time the outfit would get looser and looser everytime I shot in it but they never were able to wash it because they wanted it to still look authentic. We did shoot in front of a green screen and shot one pose multiple times to make sure we got a shot from every angle.

I honestly had no idea how big this was going to be because I could never visualize exactly what my images were going to be used for and how they were going to be used. I guess it didn’t sink in that I was representing Lara Croft, the most iconic video game character, in my eyes. I’ve always been a huge fan of Angelina Jolie and how big of an uber babe she was as Lara, even shooting for the same thing as her is an incredible honor. But there is nothing more shocking than to see yourself internationally representing one of the biggest games of the year.

What was the best part about the photoshoot?

The best part about the shoot besides getting to play Lara was probably the things the staff had to make me do to get angry. I’m an incredibly happy/goofy person so it’s hard for me to make angry or pissed off faces because it just is out of character for me. After a long day of shooting and I was exhausted it came a little easier and I’m guessing that’s why they had me shoot so intensley so that I could portray the expressions of being tired, weary, and angry. After a while we started playing metal so it would get me upset, instead I love metal and it makes me happy so I just pretended to be screaming the vocals and that seemed to help with my “angry face.” Fortunately for the viewers they decided to use none of the photos of me making an angry face and now you know why. Hahaha!!

Have you played the new Tomb Raider game that you’re on the cover of?

Ok here comes the part where everyone is going to hate on me. To be honest I haven’t played the game YET. First off because I would feel incredibly narcissistic, but secondly because the last gaming console I owned is N64. I used to play video games all day long as a kid but since I’ve gotten a little bit older and going to college and working and all that annoying adult stuff, I haven’t had a ton of time to keep up with video games. Once I learn how to understand new gaming consoles I definitely plan on playing the shit out of Tomb Raider, so can someone teach me please?!

Also, while in the process of shooting I was shown clips from the trailer of the game so I could get into character and try and portray Lara’s feelings, so I did get to see a lot of the graphics and get an idea for the plot of the game. I was incredibly impressed, because I was used to Mario Kart and now the design and the graphics of these new school video games are absolutely insane! The gaming world is a whole new world. I think Crystal Dynamics did an amazing job, especially since it took them over four years to make this game. It really shows and it’s incredibly impressive the imagination and creativity and talent they have for making a game so life-like.

I appreciate all the love I’ve received from Tomb Raider fans around the world! If you have any Tomb Raider pictures and are on instagram or twitter please reach out to me!! Thank you and I love you! ♥

Like cosplay, the modding community is a very talented & creative bunch. A GTA modder: ac.amir has designed a downloadable classic Lara Croft Mod, mixed with the appearance of the new Lara! The Mod gives you an awesome idea of what the new rebooted Lara Croft would like like with her Duel pistol holsters to along with the shorts & ponytail!

For directions on how to get this mod,
follow this link to ac.amir’s official site!
Enjoy the video below!

Tomb Raider launched with an impressive 1 million copies sold within the first 48-hours of it’s initial release earlier this year, and it appears that a version for the game will be available on the mac platform very soon!

Update: A request for a confirmation statement was sent out to Feral Interactive, and they shared the following:

“We are unable to share details of our future release schedule until a game is officially announced via our website. This means that we are unable to confirm or deny that Feral Interactive will be bringing this title to Mac.”

It’s evident that they’re the ones who will be bringing this fantastic game to the Mac. We’ll just have to wait until they officially announce this title.

“We’re excited to bring Tomb Raider to the Mac, and in doing so introduce a new audience to Lara Croft’s origin story,” said Darrell Gallagher, Head of Product Development and Studios at Square Enix. “This is one more step on the road to achieving everything we wanted with the game.”

Pricing, system requirements, and Mac multiplayer details will be revealed closer to the release date.

The Tomb Raider reboot released for the PS3, Xbox 360 & PC earlier this year and has finally sold more than 4 million copies world wide. This makes this the fastest selling game in the Tomb Raider franchise, according to a statement released by Darrell Gallagher. Gallagher is the former studio head of the Tomb Raider development team at Crystal Dynamics and is now the head of product development and studios for Square Enix.

Tomb Raider remains one of the biggest selling releases of 2013 in many major territories with more than 4 million units sold worldwide so far.

However, a few months after Tomb Raider’s release, Square Enix announced that the game failed to reach predicted sales targets. Crystal Dynamics defended Tomb Raider‘s sales, stating the reboot had the “most successful launch” of any game this year in addition to setting a new record for the highest sales in the franchise’s history.

In a statement on Square Enix’s official blog, North American CEO Phil Rogers revealed that Crystal Dynamics is well into development on a next generation Tomb Raider sequel!

“Square Enix is in production with a number of next generation projects, including Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts III, which were announced at this year’s E3, and Thief coming in 2014. I am also excited to reveal that we are well into development on a next-generation Tomb Raider sequel – something you may have heard about recently!”

Crystal head, Darrell Gallagher also released a statement on the official Tomb Raider blog.

“Hi – you may have read today that a next-generation sequel to Tomb Raider is in the works. We’re very excited to confirm that the team has started working on telling the next chapter in Lara’s tale. It’s still early days, so I’m afraid I can’t provide any further details for now save my assurance that we’re not resting on our laurels and acclaim from Tomb Raider’s recent successes, but working hard to raise the bar even higher and re-affirm the faith you’ve shown.”

I’m super excited for next-gen Lara!!! I hope Crystal Dynamics can make Lara Croft’s character model look similar to the turning point Lara. I can’t wait to see what Crystal comes up with for the next chapter in Lara’s saga.

Back in late May during London’s MCM Comic-Con convention in a press-interview, Camilla Luddington discussed her part in playing the role of Lara Croft, and the possible opportunity to sign on as Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider film reboot produced by GK Films & MGM.

Both parties released a statement about the current project in the works:

GK Films had previously acquired the TOMB RAIDER film rights in 2011 from interactive entertainment company, Square Enix Ltd. King will serve as producer and development of the first film will begin immediately. No casting has been announced.

“Graham is one of the premier producers in this industry and I am delighted to be working with him on this exciting franchise. We look forward to developing more projects together in the future,” said Barber.

King said, “I am thrilled to partner with Gary and his MGM team on rebooting this successful TOMB RAIDER film franchise. The enthusiasm over the recent game release is very encouraging and we can’t wait to bring it to the big screen.”

Female First interviewed Keeley Hawes at the end of April, after the new Tomb Raider game had launched a month prior. Female First asked Hawes a series of questions regarding her current and previous projects.

“Today I’ve been talking about doing the voice of Lara Croft. I mean Michael Gambon does voice overs all the time; it’s not something to be sniffed at now at all. We can theatre, TV and films all at the same time. More so than in the States, where for years you were either a TV actor or a film actor. That’s great for me; it would be a dull old world if you only ever did one thing.”

Talking about Tomb Raider, were you a little surprised that they didn’t have you back for the new game?

“No, I knew they weren’t going to. I did three games, which is quite a lot in that that world. They take long to make and I’d done documentaries about her, so I was quite happy to let her go. It needed a freshening up though, and the fact that they went back to the beginning is a very clever thing to do. It introduces her to a whole new audience and I’m proud to have been such a big part of the franchise for so long.”

I’ve always been a big fan of Keeley Hawes voicing the role of Lara Croft, although it was time for Keeley to pass down her Duel Pistols to Camilla Luddington 😉